Many Ile-de-France residents are looking for social housing in the Greater Paris Metropolis without being able to find it. The waiting time is estimated at 10 years. Traffic jams which are part of a housing crisis according to several elected officials: rents too expensive, apartments too small or dilapidated and not enough social housing … Result: many departures, especially from the capital.
So in an attempt to change things, several mayors and elected municipal officials in the metropolis are sounding the alarm and making ten proposals. Patrick Jarry, various left mayor of Nanterre and president of the Housing Commission of the Greater Paris Metropolis, details the main ones: “You have to shake the coconut tree. We are proposing, among other things, that in all projects of more than 12 housing units, 30% of social housing should be provided throughout the Metropolis. Then, the State must review the level of subsidization for the construction of social housing because there are projects that do not come out due to a lack of sufficient subsidies and because social landlords do not have the funds. own to do them. Finally, State, communities and municipalities, we must tackle the issue of land prices in the Greater Paris Metropolis head on. ”
Among the other proposals made by elected officials, the use of empty offices to transform them into social housing. Currently, in the metropolis, 55 million square meters offices are not being used.
A rally is planned for November
Currently, 740,000 families are waiting for social housing in Ile-de-France. Still according to Patrick Jarry, these are “740,000 families who renewed their registration this year. On the other hand, an average of 70,000 homes are allocated per year. This means that we are more than 10 years waiting.”
A figure that worries, in particular Jacqueline Belhomme, Communist mayor of the town of Malakoff in the Hauts-de-Seine which has 42% of social housing: “Today, middle-class people can no longer find housing in social housing. And as in Malakoff – or in the metropolis in general – private accommodation is extremely expensive, these families find themselves having to leave for the south of the department, in particular Essonne. They will therefore have 2-3 hours of transport to go to work. ”
“We do not want a model of society where the Metropolis of Greater Paris would be reserved only for those who have the means to find housing” – Jacqueline Belhomme, Communist mayor of Malakoff
Faced with this situation, the elected representative is not the only one who wants to act. Michel Leprêtre, communist vice-president of the metropolis, also wants things to move forward and the state to play its role: “There is hypocrisy because we are asked to do but we do not have the means. It is easier today to take the responsibility off the State and the employers. We must assume, we must therefore invest but the State must play its part. “
A rally is scheduled for November 10 at 6 p.m. in front of the Ministry of Housing.